Almost Linear Walks

Almost Linear Walks

Byrichard

Twice in the last two weekends I have done linear rather than circular walks. By linear I don’t mean that I walked from A to B. I mean that I started walking along a loop but when I saw that the routes I wanted to walk were either crowded by couples or people with dugs I will either turn around, or walk across a field to a parallel path that is less crowded.

Busy Weekends

Yesterday I went for my walk. I don’t like walking on weekends, especially sunny warm weekends because that’s when people who don’t walk alone are walking their dogs or with others. It reminds me of my solitude. I also got into the habit of avoiding people during the pandemic, and the pandemic never ended, so I never went back to walking the same paths as others.

Walking Fast

I walk fast, very fast. Nothing says that I have to walk a loop for every walk. Plenty of people walk outwards, along one path, and walk along the same path. Their walks are just a straight line, back and forth. I just got into the habit of walking loops because loops are quite a bit longer than linear walks. They’re also more interesting.

The need for an Easier Walk

The thing I don’t consider enough is fatigue. I believe that I build up fatigue, from walking up to eight kilometres a day, every single day. I could have walked my ten kilometre loop yesterday but I didn’t feel that I had the energy. It’s when you’re tired, and need a rest day that it’s good to go back and forth, rather than push. I still got 10,000 or more steps and I still walked further than most people. It’s just that it wasn’t much by my standard. A rest day is one where I go for a slightly shorter walk than usual.

The Lure of the Project

It’s not just that it’s the weekend, that makes me want to skip my walk. It’s also that I’m task driven. I am currently working on consolidating all of my media drives but this is time consuming, and every time I leave it unattended a messsage pops up, that I need to agree to, before it continues working. If I go for a one and a half hour walk and a message pops up ten minutes into my walk, when I am not there to agree, then the system waits for my return, and I’m stuck with one hour and 20 minutes of transfers.

If I followed my key desire I would just skip the walk but the walk is important for my eyes. They need to focus into the distance, and I need to stay healthy.

And Finally

If my habits weren’t so consistent veering from them would be normal. It is because I am consistent that I feel bad for turning around, rather than walking my usual loop. Fitness wise it’s still a one hour walk, but it’s just shorter than if I walked my loop.

Today is a weekday so I will do my normal walk loop.

One Hundred and Fifty Six Days of Walking 10,000 Steps Or More and Two Bike Rides

Byrichard

For one hundred and fifty six days I walked 10 thousand steps or more, before I broke my streak by going for two bike rides. The first one was a twenty five kilometre loop. The second was a more ambitious 51km loop. I ended up in Geneva, by the Palais Des Nations. This had not been my goal. I just felt good so I kept going. 


View of the Broken Chair and the Palais des Nations
View of the Broken Chair and the Palais des Nations


Recently i have seen a few articles that discuss that the 10,000 steps myth was created because that was the name of a step counter, designed by a Japanese company. It stuck around for a few decades. Recent research shows that the health benefits of steps stabilise after 8000 steps. The research found that from 8000 steps per day onwards the health benefits of walking flatten off and it becomes surplus to requirement. This doesn’t mean that you don’t get fitter. They mean that after 8000 steps in a day life expectancy remains the same. 


Mahatma Ghandi and spring flowers
Mahatma Ghandi and spring flowers


The conditions for cycling were good yesterday because there were no commuters in a rush, and ignoring the safety of cyclists. It was also good because the temperature was low enough not to get too warm, but warm enough not to get cold. These are good cycling conditions at the moment. 


I cycled 52 kilometres at an average speed of 23.2 kilometres per hour over 2hr14. It took me about one hour to get towards Palexpo etc. This is relevant because people speak about how public transport should be improved, and how people should take public transport. I think that cycling routes should be improved instead. If cycling routes are made safer for cyclists then instead of taking an hour to take a train into Geneva from Nyon you could cycle. Instead of commuting for an hour passively, you could commute on a bike. This is an easy distance to cycle. 


View of Vaud looking towards Lausanne with two trees in bloom and a blue sky
View of Vaud looking towards Lausanne with two trees in bloom and a blue sky


We should think about replacing the car, for short journeys, and even for commuting. The bike ride tired me, but because it’s the first time I do such a distance in many months. By the end of summer this will be an easy ride. 

The Sunday Run

The Sunday Run

Byrichard

This morning I decided to go for a run, rather than studying or doing other things. I ran along one of my usual routes thinking that it would be quiet but it wasn’t. Groups of people walking two to three abreast, or more were blocking different roads so I deviated through fields, turned around or rerouted.


Out of pandemic I would have spent weekends doing things with people so I would have been one of those people doing something with others. In pandemic I do things alone. I have been doing things alone for five years now. One year because I had no car, the second because of a broken arm, and for three years because of the pandemic. Three or four years ago I lost the ability to walk by couples or groups of people without feeling deep sadness, so I found routes that made it possible to avoid people. With the pandemic I had an excuse to do that openly.


The pandemic never ended, so I never reverted to normal behaviour, and now my people avoidance is who I am, what I have become.


If I passed by single women, and single people then I wouldn’t deviate so much. I’d be inclined to say hello. It’s because it is a reminder of my solitude, that I find solitary paths and routes. I like to forget about my isolation, and enjoy my solitude.


I like my daily walks and runs, but Sunday is one of the days where I struggle to find routes with very few people. That’s why I usually walk extra big loops, compared to normal week days.


And Finally


The weather is warmer now. Not warm enough to run without a hat and gloves, but warm enough for snow to have melted, and for the frozen pond/lake I walked on to become a place for birds to rest.

Day Twenty of ORCA in Switzerland – An Island of Tranquility
|

Day Twenty of ORCA in Switzerland – An Island of Tranquility

Byrichard

Today I went on my daily walk and found an island of tranquility. Instead of walking in one direction I reversed it. In doing so I saw the river from another point of view. I was on a trail and saw that I could get down to the riverbed and did. I saw a tree lying from one bank to the other and I thought, “Look, a bridge” but of course I didn’t cross it because I’d have fallen in.


Today’s walk was shorter than usual and there are two reasons for it. The first is that I’ve walked the routes so many times over the last three summers that I’m in need of a change. The second reason is that today it was warm, it’s a Saturday, and it’s warm.


All of these factors meant that people were motivated to go out for a walk. When too many people go out during a pandemic the challenge of not walking within three meters is more pronounced.


As I got close to home, and saw how many people were walking I thought that the last four hundred meters would be really challenging. I thought I would have to find a quiet spot and watch for a gap in pedestrian traffic before I could walk home. Luckily that fear stayed theoretical.


I had planned to ride the bike indoors when I got home but then I got distracted with the need to work on a motivation letter but this was interrupted by a phone call and now it’s time for dinner and I have to write the blog post first.



I want to keep my daily routine up. I want to keep discipline. I also want to be ready for when life gets back to normal. I want to know that I set daily goals and I reach them consistently for weeks or months at a time. I am on day 208 of my German practice streak for example.


“COVID-19”, as people have been saying, “is not a holiday. It’s a pandemic. Stay home, and self-isolate.” Did you notice the shift from “social isolation” to “self-isolation”. I prefer the second term. I am self-isolating. I am keeping myself company, and at the end of the day, after having conversations via whatsapp or other apps I have a conversation with myself, in the form of writing. By the end of my “write a blog post task” I feel rested and relaxed, and I often feel my mood lift. It’s serving me well.


Now I can prepare dinner.

|

Wait in Terminal

Byrichard

Wait in terminal

And so the weekend came to an end. It began on Thursday with a trip around Malmo and dropping into two or three bars and a night club. Discussions were had and dancing took place.

The first day was about getting back up to speed with the friend and keeping to the promise that I’d made about coming to Sweden would come to fruition.

I was in the city of Malmo, across the Oresund from Copenhague, Denmark’s capital. It’s on the southern tip of Sweden. It’s a city of around 500,000 people.

We went to two bars before dropping into l’étage. A nightclub that wasn’t that busy. We met a few people of which a fashion student. I was interested in what she had to say but this was cut short by the boyfriend interrupting to speak about football.

The night ended early and I was exhausted.

The second day was more relaxed consisting of a meal at a restaurant I had been to previously where the food was good.

On the third day, we visited the city of Copenhagen. I had already been to the airport but it’s nice to visit the town and notice some of the atmosphere and the architecture.

There’s a circular ice rink where people can come and ice skate in a square. It’s some grass in the middle so it’s circular. Some people were enjoying the ice.

Back in Malmo we had some dinner before passing by a night club where we stayed till closing. It felt relaxed, consisting of a corridor and three rooms. One part was the restaurant, another the dancefloor and the other a room with table tennis. It lasted till three am and can’t think of any conversations

I flew the next day and I was writing this entry on my phone it seemed that we were chasing the sunset back to London. Those sunsets are always enjoyable and colourful.

| |

Looking forward to Sweden

Byrichard

In about 23 hours I’m going to be ready both physically and mentally for a trip to the city of Malmo in Sweden. There I expect to find a city I have already been to twice in the past. It is there that I may find a cold wind, blankets in the piccolina Piazza… Lilla Torg and enjoy pear cider.

I take the tube towards central London and the bus from there to Stansted. I board a plane that will fly for around 1hr and 20 minutes, land in Copenhague, get to the train station, catch the Oresund train across to the city of Malmo and look at the big waves in the sea below the tracks. It’s a short enough trip.

I haven’t spent more than five weeks at a time in the same place since the beginning of the academic year. I love traveling and seeing other countries and their cultures. It may be the last time I drop by for cheap since the friend will be moving from Sweden within a short amount of time.

Three nights in Sverige

It may be time for me to learn some Swedish other than “what are you doing” or “you are cute” and learn more relevant sentences.

Thursday will make these decisions for me.

A sunday morning

Byrichard

It’s Sunday morning and yesterday was another day of shooting and editing. As a result of that, the documentary has progressed a little more. One or two more segments have been added, graphics have been improved and the project as a whole looks good.

There’s still a lot of work to be done and I’ve been thinking of extra graphics and shots that could help make the documentary more interesting to watch.

Another 7hrs before editing is over for today